► The "Warrior's Wives" is a tragic opera in two acts that tells the stories of three women – Ikuku, Imiri, and Oku – married to…
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▼ The "Warrior's Wives" is a tragic opera in two acts that tells the stories of three women – Ikuku, Imiri, and Oku – married to the warrior, Ekpe. Inspired by Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart", this tragedy allows the audience to gain three different perspectives on the shared narrative of the women. I have adapted the story into my own libretto, developing the wives through my own original stories. These stories serve the greater storyline of identity, destiny, and a person's ability to shape their fate through their actions. Through this, the project explores issues of duty, love, fear, motherhood, loyalty, oppression, and vengeance.
Advisors/Committee Members: Dorothy Hindman, Charles Mason, Lansing McLoskey, Thomas Sleeper, Karen Henson.

Taylor, M. E. (2015). The Warrior's Wives: a Tragic Opera in Two Acts with a Prologue. (Thesis). University of Miami. Retrieved from https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1538

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Taylor, Matthew E. “The Warrior's Wives: a Tragic Opera in Two Acts with a Prologue.” 2015. Thesis, University of Miami. Accessed May 25, 2019.
https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1538.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

MLA Handbook (7th Edition):

Taylor, Matthew E. “The Warrior's Wives: a Tragic Opera in Two Acts with a Prologue.” 2015. Web. 25 May 2019.

Vancouver:

Taylor ME. The Warrior's Wives: a Tragic Opera in Two Acts with a Prologue. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Miami; 2015. [cited 2019 May 25].
Available from: https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1538.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Council of Science Editors:

Taylor ME. The Warrior's Wives: a Tragic Opera in Two Acts with a Prologue. [Thesis]. University of Miami; 2015. Available from: https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1538

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

► This opera, for soprano, contralto, baritone, treble voice, and chamber orchestra, sets an original story, a meditation on gender and the effects of restrictive gender…
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▼ This opera, for soprano, contralto, baritone, treble voice, and chamber orchestra, sets an original story, a meditation on gender and the effects of restrictive gender norms in a society. The narrative follows a young sailor who wishes nothing more than to work on the sea forever, but is derailed from that destiny by her forced betrothal to a captain. She escapes this fate through the discovery of a latent power, sailing away from her home into an uncertain future of her own making.
The work is approximately one hour in duration.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kyr, Robert (advisor).

► Henry Purcell's opera The Fairy Queen, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, was first performed in 1692, at a pivotal moment in…
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▼ Henry Purcell's opera The Fairy Queen, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, was first performed in 1692, at a pivotal moment in the history of English opera. England was new to opera at that time, and was operating in the shadow of the more established operatic traditions of Italy and France. This adaptation, particularly in its characterization of Robin Goodfellow, serves as a response to negative criticism, as well as to the critical anxiety felt by Purcell and the other creators of English opera. Instead of merely imitating Italian and French conventions, Purcell's opera intentionally follows another path and forges a new, English opera by emphasizing English talents in the areas of acting and stagecraft.
Advisors/Committee Members: Christy Desmet.

► The Cantonese opera, one of China’s major operas, was inscribed as a valuable world heritage to be preserved by the United Nations in 2009. Because…
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▼ The Cantonese opera, one of China’s major operas, was inscribed as a valuable world heritage to be preserved by the United Nations in 2009. Because Cantonese people have migrated to many continents, performances, practitioners, and audiences, listeners have expanded to beyond Guangzhou in China, and Hong Kong to diasporas. The Red Boat Troupes were influential in shaping contemporary Cantonese opera. They were performing troupes that used boats for transportation between towns and villages in the Pearl River Estuary from the late Qing dynasty until 1938. These boats were specially designed for opera troupes. The boats also served as sleeping quarters for performers, musicians, apprentices, stagehands, and sailors. Many Red Boats were destroyed during the Japanese invasion of China in 1938. Unfortunately, in just 70 years, no more Red boats seem to exist.
This study situates the historical background of Cantonese Opera and Red Boat Troupes. Culture, function, life style, the art, performance practice, aesthetics, and music of Cantonese opera in the Red Boat society are examined. The thesis also looks into the social and economic understandings that brought about the demand for the Red Boat Troupe industry. Changes due to modernity, industrialization, metropolitan living, trade, colonialism, Westernization, and improved transportation affected the development of Cantonese opera. Feminist movement, cross-gender performance, economics, and class issues historically associated with the opera are examined and compared to recent activities in Hong Kong, and in one Cantonese diaspora, Vancouver of Canada. The findings from the research shed light on the genre with a hope of preserving the heritage and increasing the practice and consumption of Cantonese opera.
Advisors/Committee Members: Jean Kidula.

► By using the lens of opera to consider a broad range of American literature, this study seeks to escape from the boundaries of ordinary literary…
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▼ By using the lens of opera to consider a broad range of American literature, this study seeks to escape from the boundaries of ordinary literary discourse (Lindenberger, Opera: The Extravagant Art, 70) and expand the critical framework. As Herbert Lindenberger noted, literary critics have embraced musical terminology to suggest nonverbal dimension beyond what we ordinarily take to be the realm of literature (Opera: The Extravagant Art, 70), but many of these same scholars have been wary of embracing anything operatic. After all, the operatic often suggests absurdity, artificiality, irrationality, and extravagance. Some of the works included in this dissertation are indisputably canonical; others might be described in operatic (and disparaging) terms: contrived, artificial, bizarre. Through the critical discourse of opera—both as art form and social institution scholars of American literature may deepen their understanding of a period marked by significant developments. As the canon of American writing grew more diverse, so, too, did American exposure to opera. The literary works studied here reflect the writers’ efforts to articulate the artist’s vision while also establishing an authoritative authorial voice. Opera’s voices and opera’s spaces enriched the works of Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, Henry James, and Edith Wharton.
Advisors/Committee Members: Hubert McAlexander.

► With the help of the internet, access to video is becoming much easier and the internet itself is a versatile source for teaching material. Even…
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▼ With the help of the internet, access to video is becoming much easier and the internet itself is a versatile source for teaching material. Even a soap opera, such as Lindenstraße and its website, can be used to teach language and culture effectively. This thesis explores the problems a teacher may come across in the foreign language classroom when teaching culture as well as other aspects of the German language. The thesis also provides suggestions on how to resolve them. Furthermore, it examines the opportunities for the classroom offered by Lindenstraße online and includes a lesson plan that makes use of the multiple features of the Lindenstraße website.
Advisors/Committee Members: Brigitte Rossbacher.

► Act one of The Metamorphosis is based on the novella by Franza Kafka of the same title. In the writing of the act, George Benjamin's…
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▼ Act one of The Metamorphosis is based on the novella by Franza Kafka of the same title. In the writing of the act, George Benjamin's Into the Little Hill and Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are provide a model of using musical material as a storytelling device. Benjamin emphasizes the parallel nature of Crimp's text through the manipulation of similar music between the acts. Knussen uses form and color to emphasize Max's childlike energy and his desire to return home. In act one of The Metamorphosis these approaches are combined to enhance Kafka's absurd narrative through a rapid collage of texture and form that is influenced by both events and characters in the opera.
Advisors/Committee Members: Broberg, Kirsten, Nelson, Jon, Stout, David.

Poovey, C. A. (2018). Music as a Woven Narrative to an Absurd Tale in Act One of The Metamorphosis. (Thesis). University of North Texas. Retrieved from https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1157611/

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Poovey, Christopher A. “Music as a Woven Narrative to an Absurd Tale in Act One of The Metamorphosis.” 2018. Thesis, University of North Texas. Accessed May 25, 2019.
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1157611/.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

MLA Handbook (7th Edition):

Poovey, Christopher A. “Music as a Woven Narrative to an Absurd Tale in Act One of The Metamorphosis.” 2018. Web. 25 May 2019.

Vancouver:

Poovey CA. Music as a Woven Narrative to an Absurd Tale in Act One of The Metamorphosis. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of North Texas; 2018. [cited 2019 May 25].
Available from: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1157611/.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Council of Science Editors:

Poovey CA. Music as a Woven Narrative to an Absurd Tale in Act One of The Metamorphosis. [Thesis]. University of North Texas; 2018. Available from: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1157611/

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

► This thesis includes a portfolio of written compositions and a written commentary. The compositions submitted present the development of a bespoke notation that reflects a…
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▼ This thesis includes a portfolio of written compositions and a written commentary. The compositions submitted present the development of a bespoke notation that reflects a specific set of aesthetic concerns. The written commentary is comprised of five chapters. The first four each deal with a specific aesthetic interest and present the majority of the composition portfolio as an ongoing research project. The final chapter is a commentary on the final work in the portfolio, the opera Palace of Junk, and reflects on this work as the culmination of the research undertaken. Throughout the commentary, aesthetic ideas are considered for both their sonic capabilities and the possibilities of imbuing a more physical style of playing. The subsequent notation developed, represents a method in which the resultant sound and physical action is implicit within the score.

Although Opera was born around 1600, the rules governing the musical preparation were already formulated by the Renaissance. During the Baroque and Classical periods, the…
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▼

Although Opera was born around 1600, the rules governing the musical preparation were already formulated by the Renaissance. During the Baroque and Classical periods, the performance practices follow the rules that govern the Rhetoric Art, as shaped by the ancient Greek and Latin orators. Thus the "speaking style" was formed, which characterizes the interpretation of the opera from 1600 until the late 18th century. Mozart’s figure dominates the Classical era; his lyrical work is the starting point of two major schools of Romanticism: his Italian operas (Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte) evolve to the "Italian Belcanto” of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti which later leads to the dramatic style of G. Verdi and Verismo. From his German Singspiel (Magic Flute, Abduction from the Seraglio) the German national opera is born, with the representative C. M von Weber, who introduced the style of Schubert's Lied in the opera. The principles of the performance practice governing Weber’s opera were later adopted by R. Wagner who created his own "Singing Style" that dominates the Romantic era. Wagner's interpretation practices influence the work of R. Strauss, but in his non-dramatic operas a return to practices found in Mozart are observed. The preparation of the French Baroque and Classical opera follows a more austere style based on a fixed tempo and limited improvisation with a detailed notation of musical ornaments. In the 19th century, the Italian practices are followed and, to this end, the Wagnerian influences make their appearance.The birth of National schools leads the musical preparation to the study of the specific traditional and folk musical styles of each country.Finally, the 20th century presents a great diversity of styles born from the need to create new and more expressive means. The new requirements of expression led composers to the searching of new instrumental techniques and the use of all sound production capabilities of the human voice. Sprechstimme is the culmination of the development of vocal art of the 20th century as it is an artificial invention by the composers and does not refer to the use of the already known sound production capabilities of the human body.